Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 22 - 30/11/16

Today we went over our monologues again each taking into consideration what we learnt last lesson about elements. After performing my monologue, I received the following notes:

• Very comical monologue, it's a good choice for you style of acting.
• The voice suits the character very well but you need to work on your diction a touch more; some phrases or words aren't very clear.
• There are some lines that you can accentuate much more so be sure to look through your monologue again for opportunities to accentuate.

I feel that these notes are very fair and I've worked on these by working on my diction when using my "Syme" voice and annotating my script on how to say my lines.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 21 - 28/11/16

Today, we made a proper start on Act Two which I feel is going to be a lot harder than Act One. Act One is mostly comprised of songs between a few characters and each song reveals a new piece of the puzzle in the plot of Rent. Whereas, in Act Two, the songs are a lot more conversational and feature most members of the cast. This will be harder to rehearse as it means constantly learning the rhythm of our lines and if one person's ill, then it ruins the flow of the songs.

We spent this entire lesson learning Happy New Year B which I found quite difficult. Although the vocals aren't very advanced, it was the timing of when to say my line which was the issue. However, after singing through the song multiple times, I got the gist of the timings. We then went on to staging the scene which was very easy. We had Alice, Lorna and Cameron (Maureen, Joanne, Mark) stand on the blocks to the left, then when the rest of us enter from stage right on "5,4,3...open sesame", they jump down and we greet each other happily. When Will (Benny) enters, we react negatively and are disgusted by his presence. Throughout the song, Mimi and Roger become separated but when Angel speaks up the mood is lightened and even Benny is welcomed back into the group. We all then exit besides Mimi and Roger until their moment is over then Roger exits, leaving Mimi with The Man/The Drug Dealer (Tyler).

I'd say the main issues with the song at the moment is people not knowing how their lines are said (whether they're spoken or sung) and not knowing how some parts of the song goes (e.g. the final "Happy New Year" line). This is something we can pick up by listening to the track at home.

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 21 - 28/11/16

Character's Element

Fire

Water

Air

Earth

Today we focused on the characterisation of our monologues and labelling our characters as "elements".

Tom came in and demonstrated an exercise he was introduced to at a workshop he took part in during the summer and it focused on relating our characters emotions to one of the four elements: Fire, Earth, Water, Air.

We first were asked to associate ourselves to each element and first was Earth. We were asked to simply walk around the room as ourselves and were then simply asked to walk like someone who would be described as Earth. At first, I didn't have a clue what this meant but I then grasped that their wasn't one singular attachment to the term and that it can be described slightly differently but around the same idea. We were also told that if it made it easier we could associate our walk with someone we knew. I associated Earth with my friend Ben as I felt that Earth was very content and was confident in what they want and who they are. I represented this as when Ben walks, he flicks his feet when walking and is very confident with his footing. However, upon sharing our ideas, I feel that I got Earth wrong and that Earth may be confident but they're very rooted and assured of their actions. So still very confident, but I feel the flicks in my feet aren't very "Earth-y". 

We then repeated this action for water. For Water, I thought of my brother as to me water is chill and fluid and doesn't seem too concerned with the world around him. Water is lighthearted and funny and also seems very sluggish. I slouched back a bit whilst also leading from my pelvis. Water to me seemed very similar to Harlequino from Commedia Dell'arte minus the silliness. Upon discussing our interpretations, I was correct in thinking that Water was chill and that he seems to be fluid in the way he thinks and lives him life; much like my brother.

For Fire, we approached it very differently as Fire works differently to the rest of the elements. We were asked to stand still and imagine that we were a tiny flame in a candle and over the space of 5 minutes our fire spread to be a full blown house fire. We did this in increments going from candlelight to larger candlelight, to paper being caught alight, to desk on fire, spreading to the carpet and finally setting the entire house ablaze. When I did this activity, I took to it straight away and began slowly making flowy movements as the fire became bigger, I flickered and twitched and became bigger and more violent with my movements; if I didn't have a sore throat that day then I would've added noises too. We identified Fire as very unpredictable as one minute he can be comforting and cosy but when given the fuel to do so, they become violent and uncontrollable.

Finally we looked at Air. We were all very unsure on Air as it seemed to be very odd compared to the other elements. We originally thought that Air was very outgoing but we were told that Ollie Marshall, from single, is a great example of Air. Our ideas changed to someone who is free and is also very airheaded; they haven't a single trouble in the world. When walking as Air, I walked at my own pace and without a sense of direction; I was free to walk where I wanted.

We then applied this idea to our characters in our monologues by deciding which one suited our character best. For Syme, I'd say he's very Water as he's constantly chill throughout the monologue. Also because Water is fluid, he would be very manipulable and this suits Syme as he is practically brainwashed by Big Brother.

When it came to performing our monologues, we were asked to first, act it as the element we chose for our character, and then, we were asked to adapt it to a different element which wouldn't typically be associated with our character. When I was asked to perform as a different element, I was given Fire and this couldn't be any further away from my character. Fire is quite unsure about things and uncontrollable whereas Syme is adamant on the idea of Newspeak and is currently controlled by The Party. The way I portrayed Syme was with twitching, darting looks, and stuttered words. This truly showed how different a character can appear based on what element we're portraying. Next lesson, we will continue to work on our contemporary monologues.

Single - Applying Acting Styles - Blog 25 - 25/11/16

Today, we focused on how we'd be implementing our acting styles into our performances and making sure everything we've blocked followed our acting style (E.g. avoid breaking the fourth wall unless it's used in the chosen acting style).

With Hope, Rob's and my scene from Advice For The Young At Heart, we needed to decide how we would certify that our blocking matched that of our chosen acting style: Epic Theatre.

We created a mind map for our piece where we listed all of the Epic Theatre conventions which we're using in our performance and explain how we use them. Below is the mindmap in bullet point form:

• Fourth Wall Breaks
• On certain lines, Hope, Rob and I will speak our lines to the audience. For example, when Sam talks about the times where he was there for Candice, I deliver this all to the audience; to tell them about my frustration.
• Placards
• For the box of phones, we'll have a box with a placard on it with a phrase like, "box of phones," written across it.
• Projection
• We'll have an image of a lock up garage projected onto the background to represent where the play is set.
• During the scenes where Candice is "remembering" conversations between Sam and Kenny, when she shouts over the pair, her words will appear across the already present projection backdrop.
• Minimal Costume
• We'd all start in blacks and we'd walk onstage to where our representational costume would be in place ready. Hope would be wearing a hoodie and Rob and I would be wearing suit jackets.
• Conveying a message
• Brecht's plays were always didatic which is the same case for our piece. The basic messages of our scene are:
• "Listen to advice given"
• "Be your own person"
• "Racism is terrible"
• Verfremdungseffekt
• Sadly, due to Rob having stitches at the time of the performance, we're unable to perform the high energy fight scene we were hoping to perform. However, this isn't an issue as we now have the opportunity to perform it in a more Epic Theatre style. Besides just running at each other and fighting, the fight will now begin with me lunging at Rob (to stop him from talking to Gloria) to which he throws me back and then grabs my throat. We freeze. Blackout. Rob exits. Lights up and I'm left on the floor crippled. I feel this is much better in terms of using Epic Theatre techniques as it takes something as simple as an alleyway brawl and turns it into something stranger.
• When Candice is, "remembering," conversations between Sam and Kenny, she shouts at Sam which doesn't affect the pair as they're merely a vision from the past. This takes the thought of memories to a whole new level.
• Episodic Storyline
• Throughout the play, Candice constantly remembers different memories involving conversations between Sam and Kenny. Each memory seems to follow a second storyline and the story progresses further and further after each memory in an episodic fashion. This was very popular with Brecht.
• Representational lighting
• Brecht was a big fan of representational lighting which we're using to make the change from memory to reality very distinguishable. For reality (scenes between Sam and Candice) we're having a white wash lighting but for memory scenes (scenes between Sam and Kenny) we're having a warmer sepia tone to the lighting to show that the scene is in the past. Additionally to represent this, we're having a sound effect alongside the lighting change.
• Proscenium Arch
• We'll be having our piece performed proscenium arch as this was the typical favourite for Brecht performances.
• Stereotypes
• In Epic Theatre plays, most characters were big stereotypes based on where they come from or their occupation etc. For our scene, Rob and I are using 50's "Londoner" accents and Hope is using more modern and common "chavvy" accent.
• Historical Context
• Brecht aimed to link his plays to real events in history ranging from wars to topics like racism. This play features strong opinions on racism from the 50's and takes place during the London Riots of 2011.

We repeated this exercise for our naturalistic scene from People, Places and Things. Below is my conversion of our mindmap:

• Realistic setting:
• Our play is set in present day which is always better for naturalism as the audience can relate to it much easier. It's also set in a more realistic setting for our era: a hospital. This has the same effect as having our play set in modern day.
• Relatable characters
• Our character are very believable as they are not only set in familiar environments for the audience. Most, if not, all characters have rich backstories which allow the audience to get connected them easier.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 20 - 24/11/16

Today in Rent, we went through all of Act One in its entirety as we had gone through every number within it that we hadn't cut. As a reminder, the songs we've cut in Act One are:

• Christmas Bells #1
• Are You Okay Honey?
• Voicemail #2
• Out Tonight
• On The Street
• Christmas Bells
• I Should Tell You
• La Vie Boheme B

And in Act Two we've cut:

• Happy New Year A
• Voicemail #3
• Seasons of Love B
• Contact
• Your Eyes (undecided)

Below are my thought on each song/section which I'm in:

• Opening (Tune Up #1, Voicemail #1, Tune Up #2, Rent): I feel this section went very well, despite only being able to rehearse in our classroom as opposed to the stage. There was plenty of energy for the entire opening. I feel that I performed my lines very well with good movement and it didn't sound too bad considering my throat wasn't feeling great. I'd say that the only improvements needed are improving some one the timings in sections like the phonecall to Benny, and having more energy in the dance break in Rent.
• Today 4 U/You'll See: I'd say Today 4 U is in need of the most improvement out of all of Act One. Despite being the only one who knows the opening to the song, my timing still needs improvement. Also, Owen's movement as Angel needs to be much more feminine. Furthermore, I feel I need to interact with Owen more as this is the song where it's established that Angel and Collins are actually a couple as opposed to I'll Cover You which establishes that the pair are soul mates.
  For You'll See Boys, the singing is good with minor timing issues and the movement between Benny, Roger and Mark is relevant to the song. However, me and Owen seem very forced in this song as we have around 5 lines between us and we just stand there for the rest of the song so we should be more involved in Benny's request.
• Life Support/Another Day/Will I?: Life Support was better than usual with everyone putting all their energy into every line making the song much more meaningful. This energy was replicated in Another Day which feels like one of the strongest numbers in our production. However, Will I? is still very weak as the echos are very messy. The energy's there but there's a lack in quality to the song which means it needs a lot more work. We will definitely work on this next lesson.
• Santa Fe/I'll Cover You: Santa Fe is one of my favourite songs in this show, not just because it's an amazing song in it's own right, but because our interpretation of it is one of, if not, THE best song in the show so far. There's plenty of energy in this inspirational number and no character looks lost or out of place. I think the use of having a small chorus on the blocks stage left (comprised of Lorna, Warren and Tyler) is very key to this song as it beefs out the cast and makes the song louder.
  I'll Cover You, on the other hand, isn't amazing. Although our movement is a lot more romantic now, our harmonies are very clashy which ruins the romance of this song and destroys the idea of us being soul mates. Owen and I will arrange to go over these harmonies with Mr Quinn, the school's music and singing teacher.
• La Vie Boheme: This number is full of energy and really does embody the idea of bohemian life which is the goal of the song. There are a few minor issues which can easily be changed but they do take a lot away from the song. For example, when we all say, "Evita" after Benny mentions his dead dog, we all sound very bland and the word has no meaning when it should really be a sense of realisation. This is the moment when the audience should understand that Benny's dead dog is the same dog that Angel assassinates for Benny's neighbour; this should be a very comical moment of the play. Additionally, when there's moments where only two or three characters are singing (e.g. Maureen and Joanne's conversations/Mimi and Roger's end section) everyone else sort of stops to watch them. We should either talk to ourselves, or continue dancing crazily.

Single - Applying Acting Styles - Blog 24 - 24/11/16

Today, Hope and I, went through our scene once again where we focused on working on our movement to help represent the relationship between our characters and the meaning of each line.

We split our section in half and focused on each one separately in order to to focus on each one in more depth. There were some lines where the movement was very obvious and didn't need much thought put into them. Whereas, there were some sections such as where Candice questions Sam about how he stood up to Uncle Kenny where we could've done different things in terms of movement. We could've had Sam go to exit and Candice call him back and he comes back to her or we could have Sam sit on the wall away from Candice and them Candice come to him. We chose the latter as it represents that Candice still does care about her grandfather despite spending the most part of the play shouting at him.

We also spent this lesson as a class looking at exercises to help us use our diaphragm more when performing. This is very helpful, not just in terms of projection but when trying to shout above another character but not wrecking our throats. This is also very helpful for me in triple with my musical theatre unit as I struggle to use my diaphragm when singing too. By the end of this exercise I was able to project my voice much easier without needing to strain my vocal chords. I'll practice this outside of lesson in order to make it more natural as opposed to being forced.

Next lesson, Hope and I will perform our scene to the rest of the class as well as looking into costume.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 19 - 23/11/16

Today in Rent, me and Owen went over new movement for I'll Cover You and we all rehearsed from Life Support to Will I? We also went through You'll See Boys for the first time.

For I'll Cover You, we've made the movement much more romantic and we hold hands etc a lot more. This builds up the relationship between Collins and Angel better which will make I'll Cover You Reprise so much more emotional.

The run from Life Support to Will I? was okay but needed a lot of improvement. Life Support was sung very well but I struggled pitching the first note of each choral section. This is something I'd need to familiarise myself with; besides that, Life Support  was very good. Next with Another Day, I thought this was our best runthrough considering we'd only sung through it once or twice. We all came in at the right times and we all were very emotive when singing. Also, Henri did very well to keep his volume up and be heard above the rest of us all singing the same thing. Finally was Will I?. This song was brilliant until the echo came in. When the second group (Tyler, Taylor, Owen, me) echoed the same lyrics of the first group (Lorna, Warren, Will), we lost the timing especially on the fourth and final line, ("From this nightmare"). This led to the third group (Cameron, Henri, Alice) also being lost as they were following us. This is a song that we will need to keep practicing in order to get the timing right.

Finally, we went through You'll See Boys, for the first time which went very well. We sang each line as it was meant and our movement was relevant to the song. We will most likely go through this again, next lesson.

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 20 - 23/11/16

Today we began our work on our contemporary monologues for the second part of our Auditions for Actors unit. The monologue I chose was Syme's monologue from 1984. I chose this monologue as I felt it contrasted very nicely with Bottom's monologue from A Midsummer Night's Dream in terms of movement, energy and volume.

With Syme's monologue, I wanted to explore the character deeper in order to perform the best I could. Below is my character profile I made for Syme:

While performing my monologue, I received very positive reactions and below are the notes I was given:

• Very comical,
• Good contrast with last monologue,
• Good speed,
• The accent put on is very good but make sure you're accentuating each word because some of it wasn't understandable partway through,
• Try not smirk while the audience reacts.

Next lesson, we will perform these again.

Single - Applying Acting Styles - Blog 23 - 22/11/16

Today, me and Hope went over our scene a couple of times and then focused more on developing our characters in order to make our performance more believable. I spent the rest of the lesson annotating my script, searching for the meanings behind each word and how I would say them.

Next lesson, we will look into our costumes and then continue going over our scene.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 18 - 21/11/16

Today we sang through everything in Act One (Besides Another Day and You'll See). Due to having a bad throat today I wasn't able to sing properly but in songs like Santa Fe, I had to still sing in order to get practise.

We then went over Another Day, which was very quick as Henri and Taylor had it learnt already and the chorus section is very similar to Life Support.

Next lesson, we will go over Will I? and move onto You'll See.

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 19 - 18/11/16

Today we went off in pairs (Lorna & James/Ollie & Me) and we spent our final lesson on our classical monologues until the day of our performance. We spent some time looking deep into our partners monologue and picking bits out that really need improvement. 

Ollie helped me with my opening which last lesson I felt was weak. Together we arranged it so I'm lying across three chairs as a bed and I'm snoring and tossing and turning which leads to me falling out of bed and awakening in shock. I then added donkey noises and kicking my leg backwards as it represented Bottom's dream of becoming a donkey. I then thought it would be even funnier if instead of falling off the chairs one side, I would fall off the other side which meant tipping the chairs whilst kicking in my sleep. Although this was very humorous when performing it to Ollie, I didn't want to risk breaking the chairs or hurting myself in the fall so I just stuck to falling off.

After running through the monologue multiple times, I performed it to the class and received the following notes:

• Stop furrowing your brow, it's okay at the beginning but when you're talking about your dream seem amazed not confused.
• Start laughing gradually, don't burst into laughter straight away.
• Use your diaphragm when calling for your friends as you'll wreck your voice.
• You have a script in your hand so use it. Don't ad lib because you said thought too much.

Next lesson, we will work on our contemporary monologues.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 17 - 17/11/16

Today, I went through I'll Cover You (Reprise) and I'll Cover You again.

When singing the reprise, I start off slightly too high which becomes an issue later in the song. At the beginning, this isn't an issue and suits the song very well but after the first verse, I become too high as the song gets higher; this leads to me straining my voice and it sounding bad. I've tried to sing the song lower but this is something I've struggled with so I'll need to work on this outside of lesson.

Next we went through I'll Cover You, which went very well. It took a minute to go through the harmonies with Owen but after that we acted out the song a lot more and made it into the romantic, happy song it's supposed to be.

Next lesson, we are hoping to work on Will I?

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 18 - 16/11/16

Today we performed our classical monologues once again and attempted to find the last pieces of the puzzle which we're missing from our monologues.

After my first performance, I received the following notes:

• Very funny when you laughed, but laugh sooner at your ridiculous dream.
• When Bottom has character lines ("Most fair Pyramus," "Bottom's Dream!") perform them really over the top! You did it well, but it needs to be more performed.

After rehearsing constantly, I performed a second time and I received these final notes:

• You're losing the comedy at the beginning as it doesn't feel genuine.
• The rest of the monologue is extremely comical and is great!

I spent a while considering the different ways I could perform this monologue and it took a while to find the right way. Eventually, I added a seat into the scene, and I walk in yawning as if I just came home from a nap and waving away at where my friends would be rehearsing. I tell them to wake me when they need me and perform my next line whilst drifting off to sleep. I then wake after a short wait and shout for my friends as they hadn't replied. I turn back to them and continue to shout for them whilst walking behind my seat. When it comes to "God's my life," I return to the chair leaning against it.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 16 - 16/11/16

Today in Rent, we were in the hall again to get a better idea of our volume. We also had some of the staging blocked using steel decking and stage blocks. Below is a diagram of the stage:

When in the hall we decided to run through the opening which included Tune Up #1, Voicemail #1, Tune Up #2, and Rent. We did this so we could get a feel for how ready the opening is and loud we all are in each part of the stage.

Before singing the opening, we were asked to stand on the stage where we feel comfortable that we can project enough so that the entire audience can hear us over the audience. Where Lorna and Alice have years of training in singing under their belt they stood quite far back to nearly the back of the stage. Meanwhile, the rest of us weren't too far away from the apron as we weren't all so confident with our ability to project. We were then asked to take a step back, besides Lorna and Alice, which is where we were told that we need to be able to project from by the time we perform RENT. To achieve this, we have all arranged to go to singing lessons with Mr Quinn, our music and singing teacher, every week. This will improve not only our projection but also our harmonies as well.

After performing our opening, we were given the following notes:

• Although it's difficult, you need to sing up. The backing track volume can't be lowered or the atmosphere will be lost.
• The movement needs to be more purposeful at times.
• The dance break section looked very good.

Next, we began singing through Life Support, the scene where the counselling group is introduced. The song starts with the Life Support group introducing themselves and singing until Mark makes his awkward entrance. Then there's a discussion between Paul, the leader of the group, and Gordon, a member of the group.

After singing through the song multiple times, we went over the staging where we're on the blocks and steel decking in a group.

Next lesson, we'll go over this once more and then move on to Will I?

Single - Applying Acting Styles - Blog 22 - 15/11/16

Paul blocking script, helping with prompt, watched advice scene with notes

Today I continued to work on our scene from People, Places & Things as Rob won't be in for the next few weeks due to outside circumstances. I performed my opening section a couple of times in order to find the correct volume. Although at the start, I need to be very loud, when Ollie and Lorna start talking, I need to make sure I'm not too loud or they won't be heard over my hollering. Luckily, I think we were able to achieve this. I then wrote down on my script all of my movement. I spent the rest of the beginning of the lesson aiding the others throughout the scene by practising my set changes and prompting the others as they attempted to perform without scripts.

I then went on to watch a performance of our section Advice For The Young At Heart online and make notes on parts that I liked or found interesting. The version I watched was the 2013/14 tour version by Theatre Centre. Below are the parts I thought we should include in our version:

• Kenny is very calm and collected in the opening while Sam is very frantic and panicked.
• When Kenny wants to continue "hunting", Sam turns away at the thought and distances himself.
• The section where Kenny teases Sam for meeting a girl is very fast paced and childlike which works very well to portray the brotherly bond.
• However, when Kenny discovers it's been going on for 3 months, he becomes very stern and betrayed that Sam had kept it from him for so long.
• When the scene switches from Kenny and Sam to Candice and Sam, the lighting changes and a sound effect plays.
• Whenever Sam walks towards Candice, she walks away again to keep her distance.
• Sam is always very jokey with Candice until he mentions how ungrateful she is.
• When Candice tells Sam to leave, he goes to walk away but she then calls him back asking why he let Kenny push him around.
• When things get more heated, Candice stands more and gets more in Sam's face.
• When he calls her pudding, he does it intentionally to irritate her as a joke.
• During the part where Ryan texts Candice, the two actors use their pauses very effectively.
• When Kenny next comes on, Sam stands to the side facing away the front and Kenny explodes onto the stage with energy and anger.
• When accusing Sam of having a black girlfriend, Kenny is very loud and angry but when Sam admits it, Kenny turns away in disgust and embarrassment.
• Throughout the section before the fight, Kenny keeps on lunging towards Sam to suggest that he's going to hurt him.
• When they're not in each others faces, the brothers are very distant and are on different sides of the stage.
• When saying "I'm brain-dead because what you think of me matters", Sam sounds more sad and disappointed in himself rather than sarcastic.
• The fight scene was very energetic and frantic but last quite a while.

Next lesson, I will work on the Sam and Candice scenes with Hope.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 15 - 14/11/16

Today, Owen and I blocked the movement for I'll Cover You, we went over Today 4 U, and then after the lesson I sang through I'll Cover You (Reprise).

We started I'll Cover You by walking in after Santa Fe, and we perform our short dialogue section. Owen then leads me off to the side singing his first verse. I then lead Owen to the opposite side during my verse. During the chorus, we look towards the audience but then on "you are my love" we face each other holding hands. During the short instrumental, we got to the side of the stage where someone (Tyler/Warren) will be selling coats/jackets/clothing etc. During our next verse, Owen buys the coat and puts it on me. On, "You'll be my king," Owen mimes putting a crown on my head, but on, "You'll be my queen," I place the crown back on his head and hug him from behind. We repeat the same movement for the chorus. During the bridge, Owen and I look at each other across the stage. We end holding each others hands.

We then went on to Today 4 U, where me, Cameron and Henri went through the opening ("Bustelo, Malboro"). Then we helped Owen walk more femininely in heels and putting more energy into his character.

After the lesson, I went through I'll Cover You (Reprise) which I found extremely difficult. Not only do I struggle with finding the right pitch in a song, but I've also never sung a solo before so the nerves leading up to the show kicked in in rehearsals. After singing through the song once, I realised I lacked emotion and was focused too much on trying to hit the correct notes. In order to improve my performance I had to become my character and fully imagine what it feels like to lose someone you really care about.

Next lesson, I'll be going through this song again as well as other songs.

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 17 - 14/11/16

Performed, more energy, better but still needs more energy

Today we performed our monologues again and got constructive feedback from the class, with the addition of Tom. Below is my notes from my first attempt:

• Very funny especially when laughing at yourself.
• Slow out the beginning but not too much.
• It needs more energy to represent Bottom clearly.

After working on my monologue more and reading more into my character, I performed my monologue again and I received the following notes:

• You still need that little bit more energy.
• The beginning was a better speed but when searching for Peter Quince and company, actually search for them, look for them.

Next lesson, we will work on these monologues again.

Single - Applying Acting Styles - Blog 21 - 11/11/16

Today, we progressed more with our scene from People, Places and Things and I managed to perform some of Advice For The Young At Heart with Rob. I'm also now involved in a major way with Rob and James' scene from Merchant of Venice.

I began the lesson by working on my section as Paul from People Places and Things and focused a great deal on using my diaphragm so that I don't ruin my voice.

I then went to work with James and Rob whom invited me to perform in their scene from Merchant of Venice as Bassanio, an ineffectual businessman who is close friends to Antonio (Rob). In this scene, Bassanio tries to convince Shylock (James) to loan him money with Antonio being his guarantor. We spent the lesson reading the script through together and grasping the meanings of our lines. As James had the vast majority of the script where lines are concerned, we left him to continue analysing his script while I introduced Rob to Advice For The Young At Heart.

We read through the beginning section of our scene and I explained to Rob the difficult plot of the play. When reading through, I explained to him the relationship between the brothers and how Kenny is the controlling elder brother where Sam does as he's told until later in the scene...

To strengthen my character, I added an accent suitable for the working class Londoner of the 50's and varied my range for when Kenny is telling me what to do and when I'm standing up for myself. I feel that this makes my character more relatable.

We then worked on our movement and went through the beginning scene but were then stopped so we can showcase to the class what we've all achieved. Below are the notes we received:

• Lewis, your accent is very good and suits the style.
• The scene choice is very good for you two as it reflects the chemistry between you.
• Your body language needs some improvement to suit your characters and situation but you didn't get much time to work on this so it's understandable.
• You two bounce off each other very well conversationally which works very well for this scene.

Next lesson, I hope to continue to working on this scene.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 14 - 09/11/16

Today we blocked Rent, the song.

We started off with a sing through which went extremely well besides some harmony issues between Cameron and Henri. We agreed that I, Collins, would start on the steps that led up to stage as we thought this would be a good place to get mugged so that Henri/Cameron can literally "throw down the key" to me from the stage. Throughout the number, I remain silent on the stairs waiting for my solo. When it comes to my solo I try to prop myself up to stand but just end up falling over once more where I remain for the rest of the song.

After everyone was taught the dance in the dance break we ran through the song multiple times and now I feel that we can comfortably perform this once again. The only issue I can see is that the chorus needs to be louder but this can be worked on at any point.

Next lesson, we will look at blocking a new scene.

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 16 - 09/11/16

Today, we performed our monologues again to the whole class and received notes on how to improve.

After performing it the first time, I received the following notes:

• Take your time when waking up, it doesn't need to be fast to be funny.
• "Starveling" is a name, not a expression.
• When talking your dream, laugh it off. Your character finds it utterly preposterous.
• Understand your character more, he's a very creative character to perform and the better your understanding the better your performance.

After my runthrough, I decided to look more into my character and research online for a character profile/analysis. Below is the research I found:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Bottom)

"A weaver by trade, he is famously known for getting his head transformed into that of a donkey by the elusive Puck."

"His first thought is that he has fallen asleep in the woods during rehearsal and has missed his cue. He quickly realizes he has had "a most rare vision". He is amazed by the events of this dream, and soon begins to wonder if it was in fact a dream at all. He quickly decides that he will "get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream", and that "it shall be called 'Bottom's Dream,' because it hath no Bottom". Upon being reunited with his friends, he is not even able to utter what has happened and says "For if I tell you, I am no true Athenian"."

(https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/m/a-midsummer-nights-dream/character-analysis/bottom)

"Bottom's role involves dancing, singing, and laughter. From his first introduction, Bottom is presented as courageous and outgoing. He is confident in his ability to play any, even all, roles in "Pyramus and Thisbe." For example, he says his performance of Pyramus will cause the audience to cry a stormload of tears. As the audience realizes, this confidence is misplaced, and Bottom is little more than a swaggering fool — indeed, an ass, as Puck's prank makes apparent."

"Although Bottom is the locus of comedy in the play — he's a traditional Shakespearean clown — he also draws the audience's attention to serious themes, such as the relationship between reality and imagination."

"Through him, Shakespeare implicitly validates the vision of the artist."

After conducting my research, I feel that I understand Bottom a lot more and can appreciate the humour within my monologue a great deal more. I then gave my monologue another go and received the following notes:

• Very good opening, waking up was drawn out just enough and the yawn and snore added a lot more comedy.
• Explaining the dream was better but don't be afraid to go for it and properly laugh it up.
• When talking about "Bottom's Dream", change your tone as it is very similar to the rest of the monologue.

Next time, we will work on these again.

Single - Applying Acting Styles - Blog 20 - 08/11/16

Today, we continued to perform our scene from People, Places and Things. As my character, Paul, is only in the scene for the first minute, I have a lot of time to either watch the rest of the scene and offer constructive criticism. But after doing this once, we feel that the scene doesn't need much changing. So I decided that for the remainder of the lesson, I would search for the next scene I would perform for my graded performance. I wanted to find a play/scene which had two males as I really wanted to work with Rob. This is because I feel that Rob and I have great chemistry when we work together and our ability to effectively perform a conflicting scene together would suit us very well.

However, when looking for male dualogues, I couldn't find one which would suit us. This was until I remebered Advice For The Young At Heart by Roy Williams. I am quite familiar with this play as I studied it for GCSE. I recall there being a very pivotal moment in the play where the brothers, Sam and Kenny, argue about Sam's lover and end up fighting. This ends with Kenny leaving Sam on the floor and the pair never meet again. I believe that Rob and I would do extremely well at portraying the broken brotherly bond. 

Unfortunately, this scene is far too short and won't be long enough for us to be graded on. I read through the sections before and after the scene I liked and I feel that the scenes before would be brilliant to add in as they set the scene very well for the relationship between the brothers. The section between also shows a conversation between Sam and his granddaughter. As I already knew this play very well, I understood how this was portrayed onstage but to others it may seem confusing as Sam and Kenny are dead. Below is an outline of the plot after I looked online to remind myself of the story:

• It's 2011, midway through the London riots and Candice, mixed race 17 year old, is in a sticky situation where her gang leading boyfriend wants her to lead her childhood friend, Clint, into a trap where he will get assaulted by the gang.
• She starts having visions of her late grandfather, Sam, in his 18 year old form. He tries to warn her of the mistakes she'll be making but she has full control of these memory visions.
• She begins to remember things which Sam had told her about his past and these memories appear in visions also. These visions are of her late uncle Kenny, Sam's brother, in his 21 year old form.
• Her visions show how Sam beat up black people in the 50s after being told to by Kenny. Later the brothers argue and fight over the fact that Sam has a black girlfriend, which leads to Sam being exiled from the family.
• Soon after this and after frequent conversations with Clint who enters and exits throughout the story, Candice sticks it to her controlling boyfriend and threatens him to leave both her and Clint alone or she will tell the police about when he had her raped by the entire gang.
• At the end Candice is leaving town and has one last memory to share with her grandfather.

The scenes we're doing are in the centre of the play where Kenny finds out about Sam's lover and below is the order of events through the section we'll be performing:

• Kenny enters with Sam and says that the "old bill" will be coming to enquire about the black beatings and he tells Sam what to say and what not to say.
• Sam then asks Kenny to leave as he reluctantly tells him he's meeting a girl. After much banter between the pair, Kenny leaves.
• Sam converses with Candice about the past but this leads to the pair arguing over who was there for who and the issue of Sam's betrayal upon his family.
• Kenny enters shouting towards the audience as if they were a black man, chanting obscenities such as "Keep Britain White!" Sam attempts to join in but Kenny pushes him away; he knows that Sam's new girlfriend is black. The pair argue about the woman which lead to them fighting. The fight ends with Kenny on top of Sam on the floor and he leaves his brother beaten and exiled. The brothers never see each other again.

I then thought about who would play the role of Candice. I felt that the obvious choice was Kat as I believed she would be able to find the right voice for lower class Londoner. However, with more thought on the subject of the play, I felt that Hope would be the best for the role as not only does her style of acting suit the character of Candice exceedingly well but she is also black which suits the whole issue of race within the play.

Next lesson, I will possibly start working on this scene or help Rob and James with their first scene as I have a minor role within their scene from Merchant of Venice.

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 15 - 07/11/16

Today, we continued on with our classical monologues and I feel that I made a lot of progress. We were split in half (Lorna & Ollie/James, Rob & Lewis) and asked to discuss our monologues and their meanings and context and then perform them to our group and respond to feedback. I feel that this is very helpful for us to understand our character as it forces us to think of our character deeply in order to teach our partners about this character.

When performing my monologue, I was given the following feedback:

• My tone of voice could be varied a tad more throughout the monologue, particularly towards the end.
• You should use your pauses more effectively when calling for your "friends". Long them out to make use of comical facial expressions.
• Be more dynamic: don't be afraid to be a little over expressive with Bottom, he's funny, loud-mouth character who isn't afraid to be heard.

Next lesson, we will continue with our classical monologues again.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 13 - 07/11/16

Today we ran through La Vie Boheme and Seasons of Love making sure everything we could do to make them better was done. We then moved on to singing through Rent together which went very well as we had looked at this independently at home.

We then went on to work on Santa Fe as we felt it still needed work and that we needed more interaction between the main four characters. When promoting my ideas of a world without worry in Santa Fe, I need to fully be confident with my movement onstage whether it be standing still, walking around nonchalantly, or breaking into dance. Today, I interacted a lot more with Lorna, Warren and Tyler and made the divide between the group less significant to show the unity that Collins' idea promotes.

However, when singing, I was told that a lot of it was far too low, even for the character of Collins. My voice was too low so it lost volume which meant I was inaudible compared to powerful voices such as Cameron and Henri. After working on my voice with Tom and Dan, I was able to sing much higher in order to be as loud as the others in the number, but not too high as this would prove difficult when harmonising with Angel in I'll Cover You.

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 14 - 04/11/16

Today we performed our classical monologue we found ready for this lesson. After performing mine, I received the following notes:

• Not very exciting
• Could vary tempo and tone more
• Very conversational which may not be the best type of monologue for you

After these key notes, I decided to scrap this monologue and find a new one. Rob also did the same so I decided to look at his monologue and I really think it suits my style of acting. My new monologue is Bottom's monologue from A Midsummer Night's Dream and is when Bottom is left alone in his sleep and recalls his dream to himself. This monologue is very comical and arrogant which I feel suits my style of performing very well and there is a lot I can do with it.

I performed this monologue today and I received the following notes:

• Very comical when looking for Peter Quince etc.
• The opening should be more sudden
• Think about the meaning behind the Shakespearean language.

Next lesson, we will continue to work on these monologues next lesson.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 12 - 03/11/16

Today we worked heavily on La Vie Boheme making it more energetic and making it the happiest song in the musical.

We started by working out a lift to do during the "Death of Bohemia" speech. We decided to lift Taylor as she's the lightest, and me Tyler, Henri and Warren lift her so she's lying face up in mid air. We then lower down onto the table and we all gather round crying and looking mournful towards the death of Bohemia.

Throughout the number, we are dancing, posing, and jumping around in a spontaneous fashion but all of which is choreographed. When Alice and I sing together we have choreographed our movement:

"Emotion" - mimic crying
"Devotion" - gesture towards each other lovingly
"To causing a commotion" - face the audience and gesture anarchically
"Creation" - mimic the shape of a human
"Vacation" - mimic wearing sunglasses
*mucho masterbation*
"Compassion" - hug each other
"To fashion" - gesture to our clothes
"To passion when it's new" - *undecided*

After running through the song twice, we realised some areas needed to be worked on. For example, on "When Dorothy and Toto..." we decided that it was too static and that we needed to do something more relevant to the lyrics. We now have Alice leading Lorna as a dog across stage on an imaginary leash while Cameron and Taylor sing. The rest of us raise our hands from right to left like a rainbow.

Next lesson, we will run through this and some other numbers and perhaps look more at Santa Fe.

Single - Applying Acting Styles - Blog 19 - 03/11/16

Today we began our first scenes for our acting styles performance. We were put in the following groups and placed into scenes from various plays:

People, Places and Things: Lorna (Emma), Hope (Doctor), Ollie K (Foster), Lewis (Paul) Kat & Ollie (Nurses)
Waiting for Godot: Kat, Ollie M
Undecided: Rob, James

We began by arranging some of the set such as the desks for the reception, the bed for the patient room and the chest of drawers of drugs. We have two tables forming the reception desk which then get replaced into two separate tables, one for Doctor's desk and the other for a medical bed which sits on. When Emma blacks out, we have a black out and her medical bed and chest of drawers of pills are turned over. When Emma awakens, she is on the floor centre stage covered in fake blood.

I feel that this is a very emotive few scenes as this showcases Emma's introduction to rehab. We then started to go more in depth with the analysis of our characters. We began by discussing our characters and our interpretations from when we went to see the play and then discussed the journeys they go on throughout the plot. We made a note of this on mindmaps relevant to each character. We not only wrote what we thought of each character but what our characters think of each other; this is all linked by the colours. Below are the opinions of each character on the other:

Emma:
Given facts: Wants to go back to work as soon as possible; was previously an actress, Has multiple aliases throughout the play (Nina, Emma, Sarah, Lucy) (as result of her acting career?), has a dependency on drugs, has a poor relationship with her parents (because of her addiction or what she's put them through?), in denial about needing help, very complicated character.
Paul's thoughts: Afraid to reach out to God, "Another one", Coward
Foster's thoughts: He cares about her but doesn't want to become attached to her, has follow procedure with her
Doctor's thoughts: Doesn't understand Emma very well, poser, feels that she's trying to escape reality

Paul:
Given facts: Homosexual who lost his partner of 18 years to heroin usage, unstable mentally (possibly schizophrenic)
Emma's thoughts: Unusual, needs a lot of help, thinks he might have a point
Foster's thoughts: wants him to do well, empathetic, wants to help him
Doctor's thoughts: problematic patient, clever, very loud

Foster:
Given facts: works at the institution, an ex-patient, nothing surprised him
Emma's thoughts: angered that he took her cigarette, he's going to help not hurt
Paul's thoughts: unfair, soulless
Doctor's thoughts: good listener, free spirit, best patient she's ever had, middle man

Doctor:
Given facts: Works at the institution, confident, cracks a joke here and there to relieve some tension, nothing surprises her
Emma's thoughts: Confusing, looks like her mum, doesn't know how to act around her
Paul's thoughts: unfair, soulless
Foster's thoughts: saviour, friend, boss

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 11 - 02/11/16

Today was our first lesson performing on our school stage which is where we will be performing our production of RENT.

We started off performing Seasons of Love, masking our staging from our usual room to the stage. I feel that this went very well as we all knew the words and blocking for the song and it was a very basic song compared to other songs.

We then performed La Vie Boheme which didn't go as well. After performing it twice, we understood straight away that there was a severe lack of energy in one of the most energetic songs in the entire musical. A song filled with spontaneous outburst was very lacking in movement and this was something we really needed to change. We decided to make the most of the time we had on the stage and then work on La Vie Boheme next lesson.

We looked at Santa Fe next, which again wasn't the best. I was severely lacking in volume which in our classroom wasn't noticeable, but on the stage with the speakers facing the audience, my voice barely reached the front row. This is something I struggle with constantly and a lot of that volume is sacrificed when singing too low. However, trying to sing higher is something I struggle with also and doesn't suit my character if it's too high. Over the week, I need to work on this and possibly ask singers like Lorna or Alice to assist me. However, a positive to take from the song is that the staging is very nice to look at with me, Owen, Cameron, and Henri (Collins, Angel, Mark, and Roger) at centre downstage and Lorna, Tyler and Warren seated far to the right of us, singing any backing vocals.

We finished this rehearsal with Light My Candle. Henri and Taylor's movement was very good and showed the relationship between the pair very well, however they suffered the same issue I did in Santa Fe: Volume. This is something we're all going to have to practise for next lesson.

Our goals for next lesson are to give La Vie Boheme some energy and up our volume. 

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 13 - 02/11/16

Today, we spent time researching monologues for our two contrasting pieces, ready for next month.

We decided to make things easier for the class that one of our monologues must be classical while the other must be contemporary. This almost guarantees the two monologues to be contrasting. We were also told that these can't be the same as the two monologues we're planning on doing for our 

After searching for a while, I had found two monologues which I thought would be very good for my style of acting. Below are the monologues I found, with some general research.

Classical:

Play: The Forced Marriage

Character: Geronimo

Writer: Moliere

Written in: 1664 (Restoration Era)

Text: 

GERONIMO: If we take fifty-two from sixty-four, we get twelve; five years you spent in Holland, seventeen; seven years spent in England, twenty-four; eight years in Rome, thirty-two; and if to thirty-two we add your age when we first became acquainted, we have exactly fifty-two. So that, Mr. Sganarelle, according to your own confession, you are between fifty-two and fifty-three years of age. The calculation is exact enough. Now, I will tell you frankly, as a friend--according to the promise you made me give you--that marriage would suit you but little. Marriage is a thing about which young people ought to think long and seriously before they risk themselves, but of which people of your age ought not to think at all; and if, as some say, the greatest folly a man can commit is to marry, I know nothing more preposterous than to commit such a folly at a time of life when we should be most prudent. In short, to speak to you plainly, I advise you not to marry; and I should think you very ridiculous if, after having remained free up to your time of life, you were now to burden yourself with the heaviest of all chains. [Pause.] What's that? You're in love with her? Ah! That's quite another thing. You didn't tell me that. By all means marry, then; I haven't another word to say.

Context: Geronimo is trying to convince his friend, Sgnarelle, to not go through with his marriage as he thinks that marriage is stupid for someone of their age (they're in their fifties).

Contemporary:

Play: Like Dreaming, Backwards
Character: Yale
Writer: Kellie Powell
Written in: 2008
Text:

Yale: I sold her a ticket that night. I only recognized her because... we played foursquare together once. She introduced herself. I don't really remember anything we said, but she seemed sweet. I didn't know her last name until I saw the article in the paper. It said that she was a sophomore and a journalism major. She was from Joliet. She had a younger sister in high school, named Carolyn. I don't know why I remember everything about that article. Her picture... was in black and white and it was right under the "I-D-E" in "suicide." I don't know why I'm telling you this. The picture was small, it didn't look like a school picture, it looked more like a candid shot. She was sort of smiling, but she looked somehow... suspicious. I have a strangely vivid memory... of her face.That night... she seemed fine. Friendly, and smiling. And I couldn't have done anything different. And I couldn't have known what she was feeling. But then, I didn't ask, did I?I just never knew anyone who died...

Context: Nell commits suicide after suffering from depression. Three characters perform monologues about Nell's suicide and Yale is one of them whom he met at a theatre.